Ladi Goldwire
to get what he had he had a couple of uncles who play for the Gators. I think he has a cousin now that’s playing for the Gators. Currently, they were a football family. And so you know his path almost seen set and sent him off to college and almost immediately and there were some things that just didn’t line up. And as a result, I got a call one day that he had been missing and in finding him. He had landed himself in the Scottsdale or Arizona jail and I’m like What is going on? Get out to Arizona and find out that he had some psychotic break. I brought him home immediately and had him examined and evaluated and we determined that he in fact suffers from schizoaffective disorder. So it’s combination of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and it’s kind of a blend, it can manifest differently. And we’ve kind of been working through that the last seven or eight years. And so, you know, by nature, I’m kind of a watchdog, I’ve got kind of an advocate element to my spirit, I guess you’d call it superhero, like, I don’t know. But when it’s your kid, I think every mom kind of has that, and dove in to where we could get resources and what that looked like. And as a result, I landed on this wonderful agency organization dedicated to, you know, just offering support to family members suffering from and trying to learn how to deal with and provide care for their loved ones with diagnosis. And so NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental illness had affiliate offices all throughout the country, I found the nearest one and got involved I currently teach each year, you know, family to family classes that kind of do that same thing in a more intimate setting, teaching loved ones how to care for their loved ones, I should say, family members how to care for their loved ones diagnosed with a mental illness. And I’ve been doing that, since got right in and absolutely adore it. So it’s personal, because it’s personal, but it’s not so personal. Because the statistics say one in five, one in four individuals are suffering from some degree of mental illness at some point or stage in their life at any given time. And so it’s just happening all around us. So being able to be a part of an agency that’s doing such a good job of raising awareness and offering resources. And outreach is kind of my form of therapy, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to be able to do that.
Jeremy Weisz
What, um, you know, looking back, you know, if someone’s listening to this, and maybe a friend, maybe it was a spouse, maybe it’s a child, maybe it who knows who it is, what are some red flags, people should be on the lookout for that that may be easy to miss.
Ladi Goldwire
You know, for for my kid, I think when I think about it, now it was, it was so non celebratory about things that should have been huge to him signing to a D, one D, you know, collegiate program, thought he’d be super happy or exuberant about it. And it just was, you know, watching him have a touchdown, and everybody celebrating and him kind of out to the side looking for, you know, the signs, I would say, just being or wanting to be isolated, without really being able to put your finger on why. For me, it was my son really didn’t have any light behind his eyes, I don’t really know how to explain that. But I think parents really know when when kids start to kind of lose their light. And that was something that jumped out at me right away. The other thing that I would say, is just not being tapped into the emotion of being sad, happy, there was never anything in those spaces. And and and that was something that I didn’t take notice of immediately. But going back and kind of replaying it all in my head, I definitely think that was a sign. So I tell any parent, at the end of the day, you know, the best thing that the only thing many of us can do is the absolute best we can do and not to put a whole lot of pressure on yourselves about what you miss. But pay attention to what you can and and don’t be afraid to ask questions. And, you know,
Jeremy Weisz
yeah, I mean it Listen, when you say that, it’s like, I could explain that away in two seconds. Like just someone who’s focused and they’re just, he’s not worried about that touchdown. He’s worried about the next touch. I mean, you could totally explain away some of those things. I don’t know.
Ladi Goldwire
It’s different, though, you know, because Wow, that was you could explain in a way, but then it will go over into that space where I tell you about the light, I could never understand why there’s didn’t seem to be any happiness, you know, what I mean? It was like,
Jeremy Weisz
and how something was something was different,
Ladi Goldwire
back then was very different. It just wasn’t any life to what what was going on around him. And I’m talking to so many parents, that’s the thing that stands out to most of them, especially for the children that are kind of in that adolescent stage, you know, they’re just not tuned in and tapped into their surroundings and what’s happening in terms of, you know, big life events. They’re getting really quiet, you should probably inquire as to what might be going on with them internally. So
Jeremy Weisz
anyone check out you can check out NAMI the organization And for more resources and help and you know, we were talking before he record Ladi about you taking beatings, okay, this is not necessarily physical beatings that I’m talking about. But But you know, I was saying, when you do a search, there is something that says prosecutors drop charges. And, and there’s always a story behind these things. So talk about what you were referring to when we were talking?
Ladi Goldwire
Well, you know, in addition to being a contractor, I am also a Certified Building Official, for the state of Florida in certified with the international code Council, to you know, officiate, make sure that when engaged in that capacity that I’m doing everything I can to keep residents, business owners, all of the community stakeholders safe. As they more or less occupy, buildings and structures we’re doing, we’re responsible for overseeing all the people who, you know, do the inspections, and all of the engineering and architectural reviews that have to happen in order for you to get permits and whatnot. And what I found myself engaged in was I took a job with a city of a city that I was born and raised in, but the city was finding itself in a space where they were doing a lot of development, high rise intercoastal development on or development on the intercoastal. And, you know, with any huge development project, there’s typically permit fees that have to be collected, there’s variances that have to be granted, there’s permissions that have to be obtained. And when you’re the person responsible for rendering those decisions, especially if those decisions start to cut into timelines and things like that it can get challenging, I found myself in the midst of a tsunami. And it resulted in me having to file federal litigation to preserve my rights, not only as a, you know, an individual, but as a female. Career polding person trying to just maneuver my way through day to day activities and job assignments. And so we have some equal pay for equal work litigation pending. We had, you know, some retaliation, litigation pending, it was just a huge thing. It’s now resulted in this three year long federal battle, or battle in the federal courts, which, up to this point, we’ve prevailed. But as a result of that, you know, to kind of diminish the character and all of the things that you see when you’re really in a space, or you find yourself in a space to kind of be bullied by by big dogs. There were I was arrested, I was jailed. I was under indictment for 21 months, they allege that I pretended to be a building official, which is completely impossible. And the day of trial for this particular case that was filed in retaliation for what I had filed. Those charges were then ultimately dropped. So it got crazy. It was a rough 21 month, but to have them dismissed the charges to have the state licensing agency support me and basically find, you know, a no probable cause finding for the charges that were being alleged, was redeeming. But it also added some some merit to what we do and how we do building officials. People don’t like building officials because they think that they get in the way of progress. But when you look at buildings collapsing, you’ve seen it in Las Vegas, you’ve seen it. We’ve had it here in South Florida, where people drive under a bridge, and the bridge collapses. Well, what happens is, the first people that they come get out of the bed at night, are the building officials who approved it, the engineers who okayed it, and you are responsible for the well being of all of these people, people you know, you don’t know. And so you learn to develop thick skin and you learn to remain committed to your obligation and your oath to preserve life safety, and sometimes you might go to jail for it, but you want to go to jail for being on the right side or right you don’t want to go to jail because you were willing to turn a blind eye and pass the buck. And so that’s pretty much how my situation shaped up. But it has been nothing but that has worked out in such a way that it’s kind of made me the go to person for here in South Florida for developers who want to get it right and not run up against getting in front of a building official who may not want to pass the project. I find that a lot of my business In that capacity consulting is showing them what building officials expect so that they can move projects.
Jeremy Weisz
So certain powerful people may want to push things through faster, because they have a certain agenda. And when something stands in the way they will maybe not let trial not let it stand in the way and it’s actually funny, Ladi, earlier today to interview, I had Christina Nicholson on who’s Media Maven. And she, we talked about this, which is the topic of fake news. And the fact that bullying online, like, we are all new sources now with social media. And if you perpetuate fake news, it’s just as bad. So someone could post anything they want about you online, and someone else could like it and share it. And then they treat it as fact, without digging deeper into what is truly the fact.
Ladi Goldwire
And once it’s gone, and it’s out there, it’s out there, there’s nothing you could do. And I was, I found myself being plummeted by it was, I was in the paper every other day, I was on the news. And you just get you know, when you do the searches, like you mentioned earlier, it just starts piling up and piling up and you have no way to redeem yourself. You know, right now we do.
Jeremy Weisz
That’s why I’m asking about it.
Ladi Goldwire
Now you do. And it’s a great thing, because guess what, a lot of people don’t know that this outlet, or outlets like yours is there and how to finesse it in such a way that they can use it to their advantage. I spent a lot of time they kept drilling into me Ladi, you’re the official you have to go high when they go low. I’m like, but I’m going to jail like this is not a go high and go low, like I’m going to jail, I need to be able to speak up for myself. And because certain mediums You don’t know how they’re going to shape up, people will just shy away from, you know, utilizing the types of resources and opportunities that you provide. And I would encourage anybody whose back is up against the wall, find immediate ally research and, you know, just get pinned down whether or not they’ve been fair in all of their presentations, and if you can demonstrate that they have been formulate an alliance and and and just continue to build yourself up because it’s hard. It’s easy to get into trouble. But it’s very hard to work your way out of some of the stuff that people put out there about you and having an ally is super important.
Jeremy Weisz
Let’s talk about BrinMar Construction, right so everyone could check it out BrinMarConstruction.com. And you know, I love the tagline helping you to build your dream to build your dream, not even your dream home. It’s just your dream. And there’s some beautiful pictures on there. I figured I want to hear about how you got into the construction development. But before we do talk about there’s one project that is kind of near and dear to your heart to your heart because of housing opportunities in where you were born.
Ladi Goldwire
Yeah,
Jeremy Weisz
What did you do there?
Ladi Goldwire
I am born in the beautiful city of Riviera Beach, Florida. It’s nestled between West Palm Beach or Fort Lauderdale and Port St. Lucie. But I mean, it is paradise home to the number one dive spot in the world. The scenery is just phenomenal. I got into construction because my father was a black Mason. He didn’t have any boys, we you know, I was out there just watching him do what he did and wanted to be a part of it. When I think about the project, that means the most to me, it was going through those same neighborhoods where I was raised and watching the fact that we could not tip the property values in our favor, to be able to you know, take advantage of refinancing opportunities that would allow us to build up and build out the properties. You know, the things that you see in other neighborhoods, for whatever reason, Riviera Beach was lacking, they didn’t have the homegrown talent to be able to offer a solution. And so when I saw that there was a chance for me to kind of capture infill lots and fill these spaces with affordable housing and create it in such a way or build it out and offer financing that would be a cut, you know, accommodate kind of the type of buyer that Riviera beach had in those areas. I took advantage of it and I built some really, really cool houses in that city. And what it did was we enticed individuals to come into the city and purchase and make Riviera beach their home. But when we made those sales, it triggered the comps in the area so that people were then able to re evaluate what their homes were really worth. The property appraisers would come back in and, and and and give us a fair shake at what was going on around what I had built that was now new. And it just changed the trajectory of my community. And so of all the projects that I’ve been engaged on, that’s the one that means the most to me and, and that’s why it really changed the fabric of our community.
Jeremy Weisz
What was it like when you grew up compared to now,
Ladi Goldwire
when I grew up, I grew up in that city and our parent, everybody on the street knew everybody, you could leave the doors open my father, we had a few single moms on the street, a few older people, he cut his grass, he cut everybody’s grass, and we were responsible for raking and picking up behind. And we thought it was the worst thing in the world growing up, but it taught us how important it is to have your neighbors back. Right? Nobody’s neighborly, there’s so many people now that live right next door to their neighbors, and they can’t tell you their names. They can’t tell you anything about them. And I think, you know, you can’t have community without first being good neighbors. And so what was different when I was growing up is that I grew up in a community that was neighborly. And what I’m seeing now is everybody is super tied to electronics, technology, not going outside and playing and watering the grass and sharing what’s been going on from household, a household, that doesn’t happen anymore. And it’s very different. I hoping that you know, with COVID, and everything that’s happening, that should be really, really terrible for us all that it puts us in a space where we kind of get back to basics. I feel like that’s kind of what’s in the air now. And I’m looking forward to where that takes us.
Jeremy Weisz
What made you start your own business, Ladi
Ladi Goldwire
having a really quirky personality not getting along in terms with rules, processes, protocols, that just didn’t make sense. You know, I wanted to create something for myself or my family for my children, that was reminiscent of what I thought we represent it, which was, you know, we’re a bunch of free spirited individuals, you know, we want to, you know, work to live, but we don’t want to live to work, like I don’t, you know what I mean? And I felt like, not having my own business put me in a situation where, you know, all of the hours and the time spent was being spent building a dream and a legacy for somebody else. And I really wanted to try to find myself or put or create a space where I could build something for me, and for my family, and, you know, my children, their children, and see where that took us. And so I’d been passionate about being an entrepreneur for a very, very long time. But the moment that I realized in terms of personality, that I didn’t necessarily have the wiring to not ask why to kind of quell being a visionary and all the things that go along with entrepreneurship. I figured, yeah, let me take Let me try it. And and I don’t regret it at all. I don’t regret it.
Jeremy Weisz
Ladi I want to know, one thing I see with you is you seem to be very good at managing stress from the hour. So I’m wondering how you manage stress, because as you know, again, before we hit record, typically you’re in a studio, if someone’s watching the video, they see you’re in a car because you had to go out and there was some and I don’t know, if I could do what you do with construction development, there’s probably always something there to deal with. And there was something you had to go out for because you check it out. And it was urgent. So
Ladi Goldwire
fix something. So we were talking before we got on the call. And I do apologize for being in the car. But we’re in the process of demolishing a drive thru. And there was some concerns that we may have come in contact with a gas line. And if you’re in construction, you know, that’s like a mayday you call everybody under the sun from all utilities and the power fire the person responsible for the work needs to be on the site when they show up so that if there has been some damage done if they’re going to be some funds distributed, you know, it starts at the top right. So you know, I manage stress. I won’t say that I manage stress. Well, it’s just that I recognize that, you know, you’ve got to get done what you’ve got to get done. I’ve had some really good wise counsel. I talk through a lot of my challenges with colleagues, people who are similarly situated. One has been very helpful. bent on reminding me to always have the tough conversations first, because that typically eliminates a lot of stress for a lot of people, most of the situations we had that were stressed out about, we’re stressed out, because we’re rooted in, you know, the stress is rooted in some type of unknown, right? Something you forgot to ask something you meant to say, conditions that may have not been discussed and clearly understood by all parties. You know, she would always say, you know, Ladi have the hard conversations first. And I found that that has eliminated a lot of the stress or at least managed what the stress looks like, or what I anticipate it will look like, when I’ve got to deal with really hard situations. In addition to that, you know, it just boils down to, you know, what’s happening to you, Jeremy is usually nine times out of 10 happening for you. And when you look at the year that we have had, that we just transitioned out of 2020 you start putting things into perspective, what really is there to to stress about, I mean, there are so many things that went way left. Last year, I think every day that I wake up, and I’m here to try to kind of do this thing again. You know, I’m grateful for it. And so I’m not looking for the stress. And if it is stressful, in my mind, I’m telling myself over and over again, okay, Ladi, if this is happening to you, there’s something going on. And it’s also happening for you looking for that makes, you know, my perspective a little bit different when it comes to being completely and totally stressed out.
Jeremy Weisz
Yeah, you come from a different perspective and it you know, when you frame it against other things that are happening in the world or your life or other people’s lives, and it maybe puts it in a different light that it may not be as stressful as we make it out to be.
Ladi Goldwire
Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, what are you gonna do about it?
Jeremy Weisz
You know, first of all, Ladi I have one last question for you but I just want to thank you you know, everyone should check out BrinMarConstruction.com check out what they do check out you know their about page other any other places online Ladi that we should point people towards?
Ladi Goldwire
Oh, wow. I can’t say that it’s online just yet. But there is a new development in my life I will be launching in April Teas CBD based teas hemp based teas that I am very, very happy about the it’ll be High Teas by Ladi.
Jeremy Weisz
Is that the website, what’s the URL?
Ladi Goldwire
The URL will be? Or it’s decided enough yet but it will be Hi, Teas by Ladi. Okay,
Jeremy Weisz
so it’s High T-E-A-S by Ladi is spelled L-A-D-I?High Teas. You know, I can’t believe no one else has thought of that. That’s pretty
Ladi Goldwire
cool. Well, listen, here’s the thing, you know, tea is always been the thing. They have a lot of people out there that are doing teas. Eventually, Florida is one of those states that is dragging its feet with regard to the legalization of marijuana. Now, when that happens, the teas will obviously evolve. But right now, they’ll just be CBD based. But eventually, as soon as we can figure out all of the formulations, we will be really, really tweaking the T game and I’m excited about it. It’ll be the fun space that I get to play in outside of all of the really rigid stuff that I do on a day to day basis. So
Jeremy Weisz
what made you decide on the T as opposed to any other? So delivery system, we’ll call it.
Ladi Goldwire
So let me say tea, First of all, there’s this kind of taboo, when you know, just burn up a joint. I mean, if I’m just like, what, what are you doing, especially if you’re a professional or you’re trying to really make your way in the world, nobody wants you there and a lot of women just don’t like the smell and their hair and your clothes in there. But when you think about teas, and you think about how you know the English partakes and you know there’s a class the very sophisticated element to it, right? And so I figured there’s a way to do everything and I thought adding some class then some color to how you do it. The flavors that we’ve chosen are extraordinary, they’re out of this world. I can’t wait to introduce them. But, you know, I just thought that it was a better way to to set deliver the product, in addition to the fact that most of my friends know if there’s ever any good gossip or any good, I’m always like, Oh, I got the T for you, girl, I got the T, you gotta let me get you on the phone. And so it was a combination of me just being real wild and crazy, but also wanting to put something together that lets us do what we want to do in a manner so that we don’t lose, you know, respect for each other with regard to just maintaining our professionalism and all of that good stuff, because that’s what everybody’s afraid of right now. It’s like, you know, you legalize cannabis. In Florida, that’s the conversation and we’re just gonna have a bunch of buckwild you know, folks not able to get to work on time and do what they’re supposed to do. And that’s totally not the case, you know, from a medicinal standpoint, and all the other things and so, this is gonna be what we look forward to it being and I’m excited about it.
Jeremy Weisz
So be on the lookout, HighTeasbyLadi.com check it out. Last question, Ladi is mentors. You know, you said you see counsel, and you have colleagues and people that you, you turn to who are some of your mentors, and it could be an actual mentor like colleagues or could be just some of your favorite books that have mentored you as well? Who are Who do you consider either in person mentors or distant mentors?
Ladi Goldwire
So the infamous negotiator for the FBI,
Jeremy Weisz
I believe Chris Voss, I have an interview with Chris Voss.
Ladi Goldwire
Okay, so I will be tuned in. That is exciting. Like, in my mind, he’s probably my best friend. Every time I get an email from his like, automated system, I feel like he’s just having a conversation, or alerting me to a conversation just for me. So he’s one.
Jeremy Weisz
Yeah, his book Never Split The Difference if anyone is for heard of it. It’s one of my favorites. And actually Ladi, we came to Chicago, we went to dinner and I was having a, I already had committed to another dinner. So I asked this group, can I bring a friend, and they didn’t necessarily know who I was bringing, but I was bringing Chris because he happened to be coming through Chicago and he sat next to someone. And the person was a very successful entrepreneur. And he but he was a fanboy of Chris and he said, I’ve bought over 200 copies of your book, I’ve given the all my friends and it is a must read or listen to audible
Ladi Goldwire
if you can’t read it, or listen to it via audible equally as exciting. So he’s definitely one. Melanie Dobson is another one. And in my in person, like my mentor is definitely a political activist here locally, Lynne Hubbard, she has been a freedom fighter for social and racial equity issues. And that is also something very near and dear to my heart and just watching her relentless pursuit of equity has been something to kind of be on the frontlines and see with her, and so she would be one for sure.
Jeremy Weisz
So talk about so people don’t know Lynn’s work. What would be an example of something that you really what has she done that you really admire when you say freedom fighter would be an example,
Ladi Goldwire
either. So, you know, she’s notorious for being very, very outspoken. If I had to align her with any of the old school, civil rights activists, the person that comes to mind is Fannie Lou Hamer, very much like, today is actually her birthday. That’s, that’s so crazy that we’re having this conversation. But you know, the things she’s always advocated for, you know, equal rights in terms of what young children of color are exposed to educationally, what they’re exposed to socially in terms of just a different opportunity. She was always big on ensuring that children in our community, horseback riding, lacrosse things that were not necessarily something that we could get our hands on, right away, but just the exposure element. She was really, really on the frontlines of that happening. And housing. Clean Water is a big thing in Riviera beach. It’s a wonder we aren’t as infamous as Flint, Michigan, but it’s a real issue. And she’s always been an advocate for having those types of things. brought to the forefront of everybody’s minds and and just advocating to just get the basic things that we all need and we all should have on a day to day basis. And so she’s just had herself engaged in some pretty huge fight. She was critical in the voter restoration process for returning citizens. And it was before it was, she was in that space before it was a thing. You know, when Chris was probably Chris was our governor and Jeb Bush before him. And so I’ve been able to watch her and she’s been instrumental in shaping me, as, you know, an evolving woman I had children very young, very young Jeremy and statistically, I should not have had the opportunity to kind of land on my feet. And it was watching her and having her kind of hold my hand and tell me remind me of the things that were important and what I should always believe in, and who I should always be advocating for that shaped my life and so she’s definitely the it girl for me.
Jeremy Weisz
Amazing. Ladi Goldwire. Thank you for joining me. Everyone can check out BrinMarConstruction.com you can go to, at some point, HighTeasbyLadi.com. And just really appreciate you check out other episodes and Thanks, everyone.
Ladi Goldwire
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Jeremy up well
